As part of a multi-year transformation program, Merck Group defined a new strategy focusing on the electronics market for one of its sectors and acquired Versum Materials in 2019. The goal was to strengthen its global supply chain and R&D capabilities. The integration would enable the two companies, their customers and employees to benefit from growth in scale, product portfolio, innovation and services depth. It was also an important step in executing against the new strategy and returning Merck Group to profitable growth.
Versum Materials was successfully integrated into Merck Group, thanks to thorough integration planning and deliberate implementation that resulted in high motivation and identification with the company among employees. The culmination of this integration was the rebranding of the Merck Group sector “Performance Materials” to “Electronics.”
As part of the larger project and advisory team, FTI Consulting helped the client deliver on business-critical changes which in turn led to the achievement of cost and revenue synergies worth approximately €83 million in line with the deal rationale.
During the integration, effective change management provided structure, helped overcome barriers and ensured business continuity, particularly during large-scale and critical changes like migration of IT infrastructure.
A stabilising retention rate and positive results from an employee engagement survey spoke to successful integration and change management.
FTI Consulting co-led the change management and communications strategy, equipping leaders, multipliers and employees with processes, systems and people support.
During the two-year integration, FTI Consulting was a trusted change advisor to Merck Group’s Integration Planning Office (“IPO”) and 15 functional workstreams, with a project team of experts from Germany, the UK and the United States.
FTI Consulting conducted a thorough change impact assessment that identified, categorized and prioritized more than 210 changes to the business. The team mapped these changes over time for various stakeholders to ensure a feasible implementation timeline and created a comprehensive employee change journey.
To implement high-impact changes like reorganizations, office consolidations, process and system migrations and policy changes, FTI Consulting developed targeted change management and communications strategies.
For all change and communication activities, FTI Consulting developed stringent KPIs, distributable tracking and IPO reporting.
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